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The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, Vermont Land Trust and the Intervale Center received a three-year, $546,000 grant from the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program to help Vermont’s next generation of agricultural entrepreneurs access land and grow viable businesses.

Measuring Up, a six-part blog series by Farm to Institution New England designed to provide an introduction to the importance of data in understanding the farm to institution landscape in New England, is now available in full on FINE's website. There are 4,628 K-12 schools, 210 colleges and universities, and 256 hospitals that provide dining services in New England. In total, they feed an estimated 3.8 million people per day. This includes students, patients, visitors, faculty, and staff. As such, institutions have the opportunity and the power to significantly impact the food system by supporting local producers and feeding their constituents fresh, healthy foods. Learn more in FINE's Measuring Up series!

Mike Barrett of Stoneholm Farm worked with the Vermont Land Trust to conserve a 61-acre farm field located along Interstate 91. Mike uses this field to grow corn, alfalfa, and grass for his 660-head dairy herd in Putney.

Culinary Students Ready for Employment

Norah Lake and Chris Polashenski of Sweetland Farm are expanding their business to serve more customers in the Upper Valley. To make this happen, the couple bought an adjacent 32-acre parcel from Jessica and Edward Polashenski, Chris’s parents, who conserved it with the Vermont Land Trust.

The Vermont Community Loan Fund loaned $483,368 to food, farms and forestry businesses in the second and third quarters of 2017.

The Vermont Land Trust helped Hadley and Mike Stock of Pink Boot Farm to buy 80 acres in Pawlet. Mike and Hadley have been raising pigs for years on a nearby farm that they’d been renting in West Pawlet. This year they were able to buy their own farm in Pawlet, previously owned by sisters Beth Moser-Duquette and Chris Moser, at a price they could afford, thanks to the help of Beth, Chris, and the land trust.

Several of this Year's Participants Tied into Rooted in Vermont Movement

In 2018, the Vermont Foodbank is piloting Vermonters Feeding Vermonters to increase the amount and quality of fresh, healthy food that we distribute. This is a program to purchase high quality fruits and vegetables directly from Vermont growers to distribute to Vermonters facing hunger.

For the second year running, the Authority surpassed any prior year’s agricultural loan approvals.